Police incidents in the Village of Fredonia increased during 2011, but Village Marshal Mike Davel said the numbers reflect enhanced record keeping rather than any surge in lawlessness.

Davel presented the department’s annual report at the last meeting of the Village Board, showing his officers made 228 arrests last year — an increase of 22 from 2010. In all, 460 incidents were documented.

The biggest increase came in citations for expired or suspended registration, where 33 citations were issued. That represented a 50% increase from the previous year.

Disorderly conduct cases nearly tripled, with 14 citations issued.

Davel said his officers also issued significantly more tickets for failure to have auto insurance, a citation that often comes when police stop a vehicle for some other traffic violation. Failure to have insurance carries a forfeiture of $114.

“That increase reflects the times we are in. A lot of people feel they just can’t afford insurance,” he said.

Davel also blamed the economy for the number of bad checks passed, which nearly doubled last year.

Davel said part of that improvement came with an increased presence of Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Department squad cars in the community, especially on South Milwaukee Street.

The department also issued 78 parking tickets, an increase of 29 from the year before. Most of the tickets were for winter parking violations, Davel said.

The average hours of police protection remained steady last year, at 74 hours a week.

The department roster is made up of Davel and seven other part-time officer, all of whom work full-time with other police departments.

In all, 3,934 hours were logged during the year by the marshal’s office.

“The hours the officer put in vary based on their availability, but when they come here they are here to work,” Davel said.

“We are lucky to have experienced officers, rather than kids who are newly out of school, because when they are on duty in the village they are pretty much by themselves.”

Davel said the department has had a good experience in the purchase of a used squad car, suggesting the village may need to repeat that process soon. He said the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria is expected to have about 90,000 miles by the end of the year.